Feeding and assembling of electrical terminal part of wire



Feb. 5, 1963 w. E. STRAUBEL 3,076,585

FEEDING AND ASSEMBLING OF ELECTRICAL TERMINAL PART OF WIRE Filed Aug.30, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

WALTER E. STRAUBEL fla P004.

ATTORNEYS 1963 w. E. STRAUBEL 3,

FEEDING AND ASSEMBLING OF ELECTRICAL TERMINAL PART OF HIRE Filed Aug.30, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 41: liil I 63/ 1 M /as 6/ 1 "x F l G. 5 9 92INVENTOR.

WALTER E. STRAUBEL AT TORNEYS Feb. 5, 1963 3,076,585

FEEDING AND ASSEMBLING OF ELECTRICAL TERMINAL PART OF WTRE Filed Aug.30, 1960 Kw. E. STRAUBEL 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN TOR.

WALTER E. STRAUBEL AT TORNE YS Feb. 5, 1963 w. E. STRAUBEL I 3,076,585

FEEDING AND AssmBLmc OF ELECTRICAL TERMINAL PART 0; WIRE Filed Aug. 30,-1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 A I INVENTOR. WALTER E. STRAUBEL ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent Ofihce 3,975,585 Patented Feb. 5, 1963 3,076,585 FEEDINGAND ASSEMBLING OF ELECTRICAL TERMINAL PART F WIRE Walter E. Straubel,Johnston, R1, assignor to Electric Terminal Corporation, a corporationof Rhode Island Filed Aug. 39, 1960, Ser. No. 52,906 Claims. (Cl.226--64) This invention relates to a mechanism for feeding terminals andattaching a wire to such terminals for electrical purposes.

The terminals which are prepared for attachment to the ends ofelectrical Wires vary from time to time as to their spacing, when instrip form, and frequently a feeding mechanism must be adjusted forpositioning the terminals relativeto the attaching mechanism. Sometimesovertravel may occur or adjustments of the plunger may be desirable withrelation to variations in the work operated upon. It is also ofadvantage .to view the operation of the mechanism upon the terminals.

One of the objects of this"'invention is to provide a feeding mechanismwhich may be adjusted very accurately as to its engagement with the workfor feeding the same.

Another object of this invention is to provide a feeding mechanism, thestroke of which may be easily adjusted so that should the terminals varyin size or spacing in the strip in which they are provided, compensatingadjustment may be made.

Another object of the invention is to so friction the Work that it maybe nicely controlled and will operate only under positive movement ofsome part which is designed for the purpose, thus preventing inertiafrom causing overtravel of the feeding.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means for controllingthe work strip by advancing it against a frictional holding for nicelycontrolling the same.

A further object of this invention is to utilize a friction brake .shoefor the work as a guide for the Work as it passes through the mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to also utilize this brake shoe andguide as a stop for locating the wire to which the terminal is to beattached.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means for holding thebrake shoe in raised operative position so that the work may be easilypositioned or loaded into the mechanism at the time of starting thesame.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lock for holding thebrake shoe in raised inoperative operative position which lock may beeasily and quickly released for dropping the brake shoe into engagementwith the Work.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simple but effectiveand yet accurate means for minutely adjusting with relation to theplunger the position of the rolling punch which crimps the terminal armsabout a Wire.

Another object of the invention is to provide a transparent guard overthis plunger to prevent fingers of the operator from getting beneath thepunch.

Another object of this invention is to provide a snap fastener means forpositioning the transparent guard in place, thus permitting the guard tobe easily and quickly removed for access to the plunger should occasionso require.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation partly in section illustrating themechanism which is the subject of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end view thereof at the righthand end of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a rear view or elevation of the mechanism;

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view of various parts of the feedingarrangement;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective exploded view of the brake shoe, back guideand wire stop which is assembled into a single operating unit;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view illustrating the relationship of theterminal strip and the unit which guides and acts as a brake for thestrip, also showing the relationship of the wire to these parts;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view of a fragmental portion of the machine atthe location of the rolling punch looking in the direction shown inFIGURE 2 and illustrating the relationship of the rolling punches to thework;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmental view in section and substantially along thelines 8--8 of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view through the locking pin;

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of a strip of terminals which strip isfed through this machine; and

FIGURE 11 is a perspective view of a single terminal attached to a Wireand acting as a terminal therefor.

In proceeding with this invention, I have provided a feeding mechanismwhich may be adjusted to locate the work feeding pawl longitudinallywith reference to the work and have provided an operating cam which isin two parts so that these may be relatively moved for controlling theamount of feed of the work engaging pawl. I have also provided a brakeengaging this cam so as to control the movement of the cam and feedingpawl and prevent overtravel in either direction making a positiveoperation of cam control applicable to the feeding mechanism. I havealso controlled the work, consisting of a strip of terminals, byapplying a brake or frictional device engaging this Work. The engagementis at such a.

point that one surface of the brake shoe acts as a guide for directingthe work in the machine, while another part acts as a stop to limit theinsertion of a Wire into a tenminal for closing parts of the terminal onthe wire. The parts of the terminal Which are closed on the wire areengaged by a rolling punch mounted in a plunger. The shape of this punchis such as to cause a rolling of the arms of the terminal as the plungerdescends, but in order to position the punch in the plunger for fineadjustment, the end of this punch is provided with an inclined surfacediagonal to the length of the plunger with a member engaging thisdiagonal surface so that movement of this member in one direction or theother will control the longitudinal position of the plunger. In orderthat the operation of the plunger may be observed and yet the fingers ofthe operator prevented from getting beneath the plunger, I have mounteda transparent guard in front of the plunger by means of snap fastenersso that it may be easily removed by pulling upon the guard or may bere-positioned by merely pressing upon the guard to force snap fastenerscarried by the guard and by the frame at either side of the plunger intoengagement.

With reference to the drawings'lil designates a base which is generallyrectangular but comprises substantially two different thicknesses, thelower part 11 being one thickness while raised from this lower partthere is a more elevated portion 12 comprising the rest of the base. The

small raised portion of the base is recessed as at 13 (FIG- URE 2) andinto this recess a guideway 16 is located which has a guide groove 17therein along which a strip of terminals may slide and be guided. Thisguide groove 17 has a hat bottom with the rear edge 18 raised therefromwhile the front edge of the guide 19 is formed by a member 20 which isheld onto the base by screws 21 3 which pass through edge slots 22 inthe member 20 and are threaded into the base 12.

A vertical support 23 having a rearwardly extending L-shape lowerportion is secured to the base so as to stand upwardly therefrom. Oneend of this support is enlarged as at 24 and recessed to provideguideways for three sides of the plunger 25 which will reciprocatevertically in this recess toward and from the base. Gibs 26 extend overthe front part of the plunger slightly so as to provide a guide for thefront or fourth surface thereof in its reciprocating movement. Thisplunger is a solid block of steel which is suitably recessed forpurposes hereinafter described. This plunger has a channel 27 (FIG- URE2) cut in the rear surface thereof and an arm 28 having a tongue 29enters this channel and is secured thereto by a screw 30. This arm 28has a depending portion 3-1 which is turned at right angles to provide aportion 32' extending longitudinally of the mechanism which portioncarries a roll 33 projecting rearwardly from the arm. The oifset of thisarm is sufficient to clear the upstanding support 23 in thereciprocating motion of the plunger. 'However, in order to permit therearward extending portion 28 of arm 31 freedom of motion, a slot 34 iscut in this support.

A work strip of terminals such as 40 (FIGURE is positioned in thechannel 17 and is fed forward by a feeding mechanism designatedgenerally 41 and shown exploded in FIGURE 4. A shaft 42 is mounted in abearing opening 43 in the support 23 and carries on the forward side ofthe support 23 a hub 44 to which there is secured one part 45 of an armwhich carries a feeding pawl. This part 45 is fixed to the hub by meansof screws passing through openings 46 and entering threaded openings 47in the hub 44. This hub engages a face of the support 23 so as to limitmovement of the shaft 42 rearwardly of the support. This part 45 has apair of abutment surfaces 48, 48 which extend from this par-t atgenerally right angles to its plate-like form. The other part of thepawl carrying arm is designated 49 and is shaped as shown in FIGURE 4.It has an opening 50 to receive the portion 42' of the shaft 42 on theforward side of hub 4-4 and an opening 51 to receive one of theabutments 48 while the other abutment 48' is located over the upper edge52 of this arm part and in a position in line with the projecting corner53 of the part 49. This part 4-9 is free to rock about the axis of shaft42 on this portion 42' and is held in adjusted position relative to thearm part 45 by screw 54 passing through projection 53 and engagingabutment 48 and screw 55 passing through opening 56 in the part 49 andprojecting into opening 51 and against abutment 48. Springs 57 encircleeach of these screws. Since the screw 54 will engage the abutment 48'and the screw 55 will engage the abutment 48 by screwing in one screw 54and backing out the other screw 55 or vice versa, the relative positionof the parts 45 and 4-9 comprising the pawl arm may be had, thusadjusting the position of the pawl relative to the work. The two armparts 45 and 49 are held against axial separation by washer 58 and screw59 which enters the threaded bore 60 in the end portion 42 of the shaft.

A pawl 61 is rockably mounted on screw 62 which passes through opening63 in the pawl and into the threaded opening 64 in the lower portion ofthe arm part 49. This pawl is swung about this pivotal mounting by aspring 65 which engages a pin in opening 66 of the pawl and also hooksover the screw 55 on the arm comprising parts 45 and 4-9. A suitablewasher 67 may be positioned between the pawl and the arm part 49 forlocating the pawl in the correct position laterally of the work.

On the back side of the support 23, I have provided an oscillatingmechanism which comprises a cam. This cam is formed in two parts, therebeing a part 70 having a hub 71 which engages the rear surface'or awasher at the rear surface of the support 23 and through an opening inthis hub 71 the shaft 42 extends. This cam part is here shown as agenerally rectangular plate about oneeighth of an inch in thickness.Also assembled on this shaft 42 there is a second cam part or plate 72which is provided with openings 73 through which the shaft 42 extends.This cam part 72 is provided with slots 74 at either marginal end andthrough each of these slots a screw 75 extends which engages a washer 76under its head while the screw passes into threaded opening 77 in thecam part 70. These two cam parts may be relatively adjusted within thelimits of the slots 74 by loosening the screws 75 and adjusting the camparts relative to each other. The location of these two cam parts issuch that the roller 33 above described carried by the plunger willengage both cam parts as it is moved upwardly and downwardly as may beseen'in FIGURE 3, and from this figure, it will be observed that as theplunger is moved downwardly'it will engage the cam part 72 to turn theshaft 42 in one direction Whereas if it is moved upwardly, it willengage the cam part 70 to move the shaft in the other direction. The campart 70 is secured to the shaft 42 by means of a'screw 71' which engagesthe shaft 42 and holds it fixed thereto.

In order to control the rotation of the cam and prevent it fromovertravelling as a result 'of the movement imparted thereto by theroller 33, I have provided a brake shoe 80 having an opening throughwhich the reduced portion 42" of the shaft 42 extends and a frictionface 81 to engage the surface of the cam part 72 so that when pressed bymeans of a washer 83 and helical spring 84 which abuts against Washer 85and is held in place by a cotter pin or other means 86 (FIGURE 3), thebrake shoe will press against the cam and control its movementpermitting movement only where there is a positive actuation and thenonly the amount of the positive actuation. A slot 87 is provided in oneend portion of the brake shoe 80 to receive a pin 88 projectingrearwardly from the sup port 23 so as to prevent the cam from rotatingabout the shaft 42".

A unit performing several functions is provided for the terminal strip.This unit is shown in perspective in FIGURE 5 and in an exploded viewand assembled in FIGURE 6. A lever arm 90 is provided with a pivotopening 91 through which pivot pin 92 (FIGURE 3) extends to piv-otallymount the lever 90 in recess 93 {FIGURE 7) in the support 23 adjacentthe path of the operating plunger. Near one end of the arm 90 there is athickened or padded port-ion 94 and upon this portion I have assembled abracket 95 by means of screws 96. This bracket has a downturned portion97 the edge 98 of which is located above the pawl 61 and serves as alimit for swinging this pawl upwardly. Also assembled upon thisdownturned portion 97 there is a brake shoe 99 held thereto by means ofscrews 100. The lower edge 101 of this brake shoe engages the work, andby means of a spring 102, this assembly is forced downwardly about thepivot 92 so as to press the lower edge 101 of the shoe 99 against thework. The outside edge of this arm engages the upturned prongs or lugs130 on the strip of terminal 40 and further guides the lateral positionof the terminal strip in its passage through the machine, while theslight raised end portion 103 which is thinner providing shoulder 104 isin a position to serve as a stop for the insertion of a wire 132 uponwhich there is to be assembled the terminal. Should it be desired tohold this assembly of FIGURE 6 in raised position, it is merelynecessary to engage the handle end 90' of the lever arm 90 and move thisdownwardly about the pivot 92 to a position sufficient to permit aspring actuated pin 105 (FIGURE 9) having a recess 106 to move outwardlyunder action of a spring 107 with its portion 105' over the upper edgeof this is a lever 90 to hold the handle 90 down and the shoe 99 inraised position against the action of its spring 102. In this positionthe strip is then freed to be slid along its guide 17 into any requiredlocation. When it is desired to release this brake and guide unit andpermit it to again move into engagement with the strip, it is merelynecessary to manually engage the end of pin 105 forcing it inwardly andpermitting the handle end of the lever 90 under action of spring 102 tomove upwardly into the recess 106 while moving its brake shoe 99downwardly into engagement with the work.

The plunger carries two rolling punches 108 and 108 with notches 109,109' for engagement with the lugs 131 and 130 of the terminal to becrimped about wire 132. These notches are substantially V-shape and therolling punches are one back of the other, one for one set of lugs andthe other for the other set of lugs. They are so spaced that each willbe reciprocated in the path of movement as the strip is guided and fedalong the guide channel. Also carried by this plunger there is a cutter110 which is positioned to sever by removing connection 133 of the stripterminal which is attached to the wire as the rolling of the lugs aboutthe terminal occurs.

The upper end of the rolling punches are inclined as at 112 (seeFIGURE 1) so as to be at an angle to the longitudinal extent of theguideways 113 which mount these punches. Each of the punches is slottedlongitudinally and a screw 114 threaded into the body of the plungerserves to hold the punch in adjusted position. However, a very fineadjustment may be had by reason of the cam member 115 which is locatedagainst the upper horizontal surface 116 of the recess in which thepunches are located and between two screws 117 and 118, access to whichis had from the opposite sides of the plunger so that by screwing in onescrew and backing out the other the position of the cam 115, the loweredge of which engages the diagonal surface 112, may be adjusted to forcethe punches downwardly if moved to the right or permitting the punchesto be moved upwardly if moved to the left. By this arrangement a veryfine adjustment may be had for the rolling punches for holding them inposition.

In order to prevent the operator from putting his fingers beneath theplunger as it is forced downwardly, I have provided a guard plate 120,this guard plate being formed of a transparent material such as methylmethacrylate which will permit a clear view to be had of the plunger andits punches as they descend upon the work. This guard plate is providedwith a notch 121 (FIGURE 1) through which the wire to be assembled withthe terminal may be positioned. The guard plate may be easily andquickly attached to the forward edge of the upstanding support 23 and ateither side or over the gibs 26 by snap fasteners, the socket portions122 of which are carried on the fixed part of the support and the studportions 123 are carried on the guard plate 120.

In order to provide for replacement when wear may occur, the base is cutout as at 125 (FIGURE 1) and a block 126 is set into this base with aportion 127 (FIG- URE 7) cooperating with the cutter and also portions128 and 129 cooperating with the rolling punches for effecting thecutting off and rolling of the lugs of the terminal about its wire.

The terminals which are to be fed in this machine are in strip form asshown at 40 in FIGURE 10. Initial positioning of the strip in theguideway 17 is done manually with the unit shown in FIGURE 5 andillustrated further in FIGURE 6 in raised position. As soon as thestrips are correctly positioned and the machine adjusted for theparticular spacing of the terminals of the strip, the operator pushesbutton allowing the brake shoe 99 to engage the strip. He may theninsert a wire 132 such as also illustrated in FIGURE 6 and the plungermay be caused to move downwardly and close the lugs 130 and 131 aboutthe wire 132 and at the same time remove the connector strip 133 frombetween the end terminal and next terminal and thus sever it from thestrip. The wire with its terminal attached may then be removed from themachine, and as the plunger is raised, the next terminal is fed intoposition by the roll 33 on arm 32 engaging the cam part 70 for suchactuation. The attaching step may then be repeated as often as desiredand the feeding of the strips will be automatically accomplished eachreciprocation of the plunger.

I claim:

1. A feeding mechanism for terminals in strip form comprising a guidewayfor the strip of terminals, a pawl engaging the strip, an arm carryingsaid pawl, a shaft for mounting said arm, and means for oscillating saidshaft, said arm comprising two parts mounted for relative movement aboutthe axis of said shaft, means for fixing one of the parts to said shaft,the other of said parts mounting said pawl, and means for relativelymoving said parts and holding them in adjusted position for varying theposition of the pawl.

2. A feeding mechanism as in claim 1 wherein said means for relativelymoving said parts comprises threaded means carried by one part andengaging the other part at one side of the axis of said shaft forrelative rotation of the parts about said axis.

3. A feeding mechanism as in claim 1 wherein said means for relativelymoving said parts comprises screws carried by one part and engaging theother part at either side of the axis of said shaft for relativerotation of the parts about said axis.

4. A feeding mechanism for terminals in strip form comprising a guidewayfor the strip, a shaft, an arm mounted on said shaft, a pawl carried bysaid arm engaging said strip, means to oscillate said shaft comprising aplate fixed to the shaft and presenting a surface extending radially ofsaid shaft, and a brake having a face engaging said surface andresilient means urging said face against said surface.

5. A feeding mechanism for terminals in strip form comprising a guidewayfor the strip, a shaft, an arm mounted on said shaft, a pawl carried bysaid arm engaging said strip, means to oscillate said shaft and a braketo oppose the resulting oscillation of said shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,642,387 Reis Sept. 13, 1927 1,834,948 Howell Dec. 8, 1931 1,940,232Spence Dec. 19, 1933 2,705,797 Handel Apr. 12, 1955 2,710,188 ManleyJune 7, 1955 2,765,468 Cootes et al. Oct. 9, 1956 2,804,622 WinbergSept. 3, 1957 2,876,452 Herman et a1,- Mar. 10, 1959

5. A FEEDING MECHANISM FOR TERMINALS IN STRIP FORM COMPRISING A GUIDEWAYFOR THE STRIP, A SHAFT, AN ARM MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT, A PAWL CARRIED BYSAID ARM ENGAGING SAID STRIP, MEANS TO OSCILLATE SAID SHAFT AND A BRAKETO OPPOSE THE RESULTING OSCILLATION OF SAID SHAFT.